Bubble Wrap (originally Air Cap)[1] is a trademarked brand of Sealed Air Corporation that includes numerous cushioning products made from bubble wrap.[2][3] The brand is produced by the Product Care division of Sealed Air.[4][5] Both the Bubble Wrap brand and product were introduced in 1960, with the launch of Sealed Air.[2] Although the brand was originally used for the packaging of IBM computers, Sealed Air now does most of its Bubble Wrap business in the food packaging industry.[6]
Bubble wrap was invented in 1957 by engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Fielding and Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together, creating a smattering of air bubbles, which they originally tried to sell as wallpaper.[6] When the product turned out to be unsuccessful as wallpaper, the team sold it as greenhouse insulation.[6]
Although Bubble Wrap was branded by Sealed Air Corporation (founded by Fielding and Chavannes) in 1960, it was not until a year later (1961) that its usefulness in protective usage was discovered.[7] As a packaging material, Bubble Wrap's first client was IBM, which used the product to protect the IBM 1401 computer during shipment.[6] Fielding and Chavannes were inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame in 1993.[7] Sealed Air celebrated Bubble Wrap's 50th birthday in January 2010.[8]
The Annual Bubble Wrap Competition For Young Inventors was hosted by Sealed Air from 2006 to 2008,[9] in which children were encouraged to design products made out of bubble wrap that had uses outside of the packaging industry.[9] Inventions included a "Bubble Wrap Car Door Cover", a "Bubble Wrap Cushy Wheelchair", and "Transformable Bubble Wrap Kite".[10]
Popping Bubble Wrap is sometimes used as stress-relief, and Sealed Air's corporate offices have "stress relief boxes" that are filled with Bubble Wrap for the employees to pop.[11][12]
